


Into The Deep

by Spacewriting



Category: Thaf9, Thafnine, Youtubers, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Also Thaf read the first chapter on stream so hella, Mer AU, Other, Subnautica AU, This is losely based off of Subnautica cannon so dont come after me, Youtuber - Freeform, alien - Freeform, mermaid au, underwater au, youtuber thafnine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-20 22:47:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30012117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spacewriting/pseuds/Spacewriting
Summary: A strange new underwater world, with strange new beasts. Your dreams become reality, and so do your nightmares. Make new friends, and fight new foes, You never know what's lurking in the shadows.





	1. Into The Void

It’s the edge, it’s only the edge. All that could be seen was the sharp cut off of the crater as it dove down in a straight line into the deep blue void alone, deeper than the light from above the infinite ocean. All the small aquatic flora that had littered the earth below several meters back had also been cut short from the dive in the rocky wall, with only a select few schools of fauna being brave enough to dip into the crater before dipping back out. 

This edge has been teasing you for quite a while now, the need to explore every nook and cranny of this water-filled world had overtaken your brain from the previous overbearing instinctual feeling of dread and fear once the final means of rescue had been thwarted. Now from the caves of the Lost River to the scorching Lava Lakes had been thoroughly searched through with nothing left to be explored. All except for the vast Crater Edge, an endless stretching void of the sea with no end in sight, rather than the end being an opposing island or some sort of bottom to this crater. The dive had no end in sight, just empty nothing, and that sight alone was enough to spark that suppressed feeling of dread in your stomach once again.

But this was nothing, it was just an empty dive to something grander, in the end. The dark waters just covering up what else lied beyond the veil of nothingness. This was nothing compared to the much more dangerous biomes you explored that were littered with aggressive predators, deadly terrain, and countless other obstacles that were out for blood. The threat of constant death had become such a common occurrence to you that the presence of nothing in a new biome was enough to make you uneasy. 

All you had to do was remind yourself that you were in a giant submarine, something that was so heavily guarded and shielded that you would be safe going down into the void, that if there was something that wanted to get to you, it would have to get through several inches and feet of metal and reinforced glass. Not to mention a smaller submarine, the Seamoth, you had packed away in the dock in case of an emergency exit was needed.

The small internal pep talk was all that was needed for the dead to subside enough for you to be able to think clearly for the adventure, stepping into the pilot HUD to activate the engine and other motor functions. Looking down at the deep blue void, you take one last breath before pushing the steering wheel forward to finally start the descent, ready for whatever was awaiting you below.

The sub descended further into the void, about one thousand meters down now. The afternoon light from above reached its ends as the dim light faded from view, causing the sub to switch on its deep-sea lights, allowing just a few feet of extra light in front of the ship. This was fine, everything was okay so far, just void, nothing else, a better alternative than the previous biomes that you had experienced. 

The sudden synthetic voice of the internal PDA of your suit made you slightly jump, not expecting the PDA to have something to say on this empty biome.

“Warning: Entering ecological dead zone. Adding report to database.”

Well, that explained a few things, the emptiness of this zone, the deep dive wall behind the Cyclops, and the avoidance of life as well. The area was surly dead, with no light, vegetation, or even any aquatic life to be seen for miles. This should be a relief to you, some peace and quiet for once, away from anything that would be trying to make you into a midday snack. But this did not feel right, none of this did, the eerie quietness of everything, besides the humming of the distant motor of the sinking submarine and the still emptiness surrounding you. That feeling of dread crept back into your skull, prying at those internal instincts to run and flee, to abandon this exploration and leave empty-handed before something bad happened.

Even the new warning from the PDA was alarming enough:

“Detecting leviathan class lifeforms in the region. Are you certain whatever you are doing is worth it?”

However, there was that side of you that refused to back down from an adventure, no matter how your instincts had screamed at you to turn back, even if that stubbornness had resulted in near-fatal results.

So you pushed forward, plunging deeper into the void, tuning out your internal screams of fear as you adventured down.

Everything was going to be okay.

A sentence proved terribly wrong as a long blue form gradually came into view, followed by a ghastly shrieking roar. 

That had to be a Ghost leviathan, judging by the horizontal blue line, maybe it was just a juvenile like the ones in the Lost River, those could be avoided easily, and they never do much harm to the ship anyways.

Oh wait, it’s getting close, and looking more massive than their younger counterparts. This was an adult, a giant one at that. It was not slowing down its charge at all, aiming to ram the ship into a pile of scrap, with the squishy moral inside. That was not going to happen today, nope.

Acting quickly and shutting the lights off from the sub, with the only illuminating light coming from the void being the approaching ghost monster to see where it was coming from, the submarine was pushed into full force, dipping down once again to avoid the incoming rampager. Unfortunately, the sub did not seem to move fast enough out of the Leviathan’s way, as the horns of the beast collided with the sub, knocking it back towards the stone wall behind you, crushing the propulsion cannons and just in the result, but not yet fully crushing the sub like an empty soda can.

The slam nearly made the pilot lose balance, gripping with a vice grip onto the steering wheel of the ship as the force of the impact caused you to lose your footing, slipping to your knees as the vessel’s internal lights went out, leaving the red glow of the emergency lights to flicker on and off as the PDA of the ship announced there to be collateral damage to the ship.

Once balance was restored back to your legs, you tried desperately to try and get the ship to move, even just a little bit, but no such luck, the power in the vessel was dwindling fast, and the propellers for the ship were crushed to death. The Leviathan slithered away, just barely out of sight before it turned its horrid head around, intending for the final blow to the crumbling ship.

Maybe it would have been a good idea to listen to your inner thoughts for once. Then maybe you wouldn’t be stuck between a bloodthirsty void abomination and a hard place. Now the pilot was going to die, in the depth of the void all because that stubborn and adventurous side of you got the better of you, and now you were just going to get crushed to death, all because of you.

With one fetal attempt to get the damaged Cyclops to at least tilt out of the way of the incoming monster, all you could do was brace yourself for the inevitable impact, looking dead on to the incoming ghost as it let out one last shriek.

Only for that shriek to be cut off as its charge was soon interrupted when it was pulled just as quickly back into the darkness. The blue light fading fast as the sound of the screaming monster resumed, only to be cut off once again. This time the blue light being overcome by a new color, green, and lots of it, seeming to engulf the blue bioluminescence of the leviathan, silencing its screams immediately before the strange new color faded away, the blue of the ghost has vanished from the void, leaving the darkness to fill its place instead.

Dread slowly crept back into your skull, thoughts and panic-filled what little space there was that shock had not fully zapped yet. What was that green light? Was there something else in this damn void? Something else that was big enough to take down an ADULT GHOST LEVIATHAN that damaged a submarine enough to keep it from moving again without a repair tool fix, and fuck any thoughts of going outside the haul with whatever was outside the crumbling safety of the sitting ship. Panic started to set in next, the ship was not moving, the power was out, and everything was silent again. The ship was a sitting Peeper, just waiting to be chopped up by an approaching predator. What else can be done besides just sitting here in the hub deck clenching onto an inactive steering wheel If you had just listened to your instincts none of this would have happened you fucking-

Those thoughts of internal fighting were so strong that the soft glow of an approaching green orb of light was almost soothing in a way, just bright enough to catch a panicked human’s attention, but dull enough to not push the panic further. The gentle swinging light captured your attention, first your eyes following the movement, then your whole head. The panic before seemingly nonexistent at this point, your whole attention was put on this little light as you stood back up to your feet.

Now that you look more closely at it, the more that orb of light is looking like some sort of hat of light or top hat-shaped light. Wait, was there any sort of creature that had a top hat-shaped anything to them?

That question was quickly answered when a new light came into play, two twin white lights positioned behind the green glow, these two much more massive compared to the green glow, nearly brightening up the entirety of the front room of the haul. The hypnotic effects of the glow were discarded once the PDH system crackled back to life, only this time, a completely different voice spoke over the speakers of the ship, a more glitched and rough sounding voice spoke instead.

“Hello? Did you come to see me?”

Once the voice spoke, you snapped out of your trance and got a full look at the owners of both lights, making whatever color that was in your face to drain right out.

The two white lights were actually eyes, and those eyes belonged to a face, a human-like face, honestly the most human-looking thing on this godforsaken planet. That face was covered in a bright, almost bioluminescent, skin, besides the dark shadow covering the beast’s eyes from underneath its messy black hair. With two rows of yellow and blue stained needle-like fangs protruding from an elongated grinning mouth only covered by two claw-like appendages that covered the sides of its jaw.

The rest of its body was too big to be seen from the position that you were in, the face of the creature nearly taking up the whole frontal view of the submarine, save for a few distant green glows of the creature’s long tail in the distance.

This thing was fucking massive if you could only see its faces from here, then fuck knows the size of the rest of it.

“I’m guessing you didn’t. No one ever does. Not even Thaf or the rest come to see me.”

The voice spoke again, despite the glitching and unearthly sound of the voice, there could still be a hint of sadness in it. The more you look at the beast, the more you notice how it is not even moving its mouth to speak, while its face was changing expression to its words, the mouth never opened more closed, not even a twitch of the lip.

“But you’re here now and you’re with me. And I won’t be alone anymore!”

The voice grew louder with excitement, the beast looking happy as the glow from the green hat glowed brighter. Part of you kind of felt bad for the monster, you knew how horrid isolation would get, and how much loneliness can change a person, knew that a bit too well. But wait, did it say “Thaf”? What the fuck was a Thaf? 

You wanted to ask it something, but that same fear still gripped your throat with a chokehold, even that small ounce of pity was overcome by the fear of this new gigantic creature. Hell, could it even hear you if you tried to speak? You could only make noises out of your mouth as the creature started your frail down through the tinted glass of the sub.

“Guess you’re not coming out of your shell that easily huh? Maybe if I can just peel you out then we can have some fun together~!”

Now the pity was gone and replaced with that same panic and fear before. The thing was going to basically rip you right out of what was left of your ship like a sardine in a can. The sight of two giant claws appearing forward from the void as they gripped the Cyclops, nearly clasping fully around the ship. A singular white claw from the thumb of the beast pressed against the front glass of the hub, the pressure slowly being applied, with the smallest amount of strength from the monster being able to crack the glass. The PDA once again announced another damaged part of the ship, this time the obviously growing crack in the front.

Your fight for flight instinct finally kicked into full force, making you scramble back to your feet as you backed away from the leaking crack. The beast was going to reach you in no time if you let it break its talons into the haul. It’s not like you can do anything anyway, you would be skewed if you tried to fight back. So the only option there was to run the hell away. But where else can you run? Your in-between a wall and the claws of whatever that green beast is. You scramble backward again, this time turning to run to the back of the ship.

“Where are you going? Come Back!” 

The voice bellowed again, the glass behind you making a sickening shattering sound as you shut the vault-like door to the Seamoth’s holding doc. If you can deploy the smaller vehicle and silently sneak away from the beast, then you would be home free. The main problem being now the entire ship was starting to creak and rumble, the horrid shrieking sound of metal bending and snapping could be heard from all around you. It was crushing the whole ship, with you inside.

You could not wait any longer, sprinting up to the docking platform, you swung open the entrance hatch to the smaller ship and leaped in, right when the holding zone started to crumble, the PDA giving its broken dialog of the countless breaking parts of the ship before the arms that carried the small sub finally snapped lose and dropped you out of the open doors underneath.

As you exited, you finally got a good glimpse of the underbelly of the beast. Green chest plate scales matching it’s glowing green skin, with black and green armored plating covering its white arms, scratched and marked from possible years of scuffles and tears. The tail of the beast resembled something of a resurrected bone-like fish, something straight from fairytales of undead ghosts. You could not stare for too long, there was still that obvious threat of the ship above being crushed by bone-like tentacles, wrapping around the haul as it was then lifted away, the beast tearing the front glass off to try to get to the vanished human inside.

Quietly shutting off the front floodlights, you turn the ship away from the crushing death of your submarine. Tearing your eyes away from the wreckage as you slowly pushed the smaller vehicle up towards the surface of the void, not wanting to see the ending to this metallic carnage, with the only remains of the event being the light confused voice of the beast asking where you were.

Looks like you were home free, the sound of crushing metal was slowly becoming obsolete the further you got away from the beast. Fear and panic slowly started to leave your system as your body collapsed further back into the control chair. Your brain finally let yourself relax, the whole nightmare being over finally in your head, only the void separating you from the beast, and nothing else can harm you no-

“I SEE YOU. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?”

Or maybe not. The bright white lights casting the shadow of your Seamoth from behind, the voice echoing around your head as your headset PDA was overtaken by the voice, sounding as if the beast was right next to you.

Spending no time explaining your sudden escape attempt, you floored it, pushing the Seamoth to its limits in just a few seconds, launching through the void at the top speed the moth could go. You did not want to stick around any longer and find out what that beast could do to a small sub, seeing what it did to the Cyclops.

“GET BACK HERE!”

The voice roared the dim white glow of the beast growing brighter as it slowly closed the void between you and its jaws. Your own will to live and fight to live causes you to continue to speed forward, pressing on one of the modules on the control board, remembering the speed boost that would make you at least somewhat faster, or at least enough to make the white light behind you dim further. It was at the expense of some of the Seamoth’s limited power, but it would be enough to get more space in between the monster and you.

Some sort of reassuring calm would have made some sort of small blip in your mind if it was not for the ear-piercing roar from the monster behind you, your hands letting go of the steering wheel and flying up to your ears to shield your sensitive human ears from the sudden wail of the beast behind. Holy shit was that fucker loud, no time to waist, the scream was over and now it was time to go! 

That would be the case, if your Seamoth would start up again, all the internal lights of the small submarine were suddenly shut off. There was also an attempt to start the engine again, that too was a feeble attempt to save another ship. There would be a moment to curse out the beast or the failure of the ship, but the fast-approaching white lights were enough to shut you up for the time being, the approaching Leviathan was more important than anything.

So with what was left of your quick thinking skills, you struggled with the latch of the submarine, pushing it open with the adrenaline-filled might your body could produce and be sucked out by the inflow of deep seawater, flipping you around as it did. Those quick-thinking skills were met with a centimeter distance away from the crushing fangs of the green beast that had bitten down on the empty lifeless submarine, crushing it like it was a knock off hard candy. Scraps of metal exploded from the wreckage, slicing through the water, grazing your suit, and slicing into your life-saving air tank on your back.

“Warning, oxygen levels decreasing at an alarming rate. Seek oxygen intake immediately”

Welp, you were fucked, unless you could beat the shredding beast to the surface, maybe it would not be able to survive on the surface? Deeper level dwellers usually do not live long in higher levels, or at least from what you have seen. Maybe this menace would act the same?

Now was not the time for questions, your oxygen levels were dropping faster by the second, the stream of bubbles above your head was not a good sign for that as well. Once again, your preparedness had saved you once again, for the time being. Pulling out the sea glide, you took to the surface once again, this time the beast’s light not following you, possibly distracted with another playtoy of yours.

Did not matter however, the light azuel colored water was shining through the surface above. Streams of white daylight breaking through the surface of the watery world, the wall of the vertical crater starting to become lush with the vegetation that was there before you took this dreadful dive. Better yet, the light from behind you had vanished as well, the beast had lost the chase.

Small laughter bubbled up from your throat and out your mouth, it was over, it was all over. Dear god, it was all over. The relief that had washed over your body was intense, your head becoming light as the corners of your vision started to go dark. Everything around your head started to buzz, the grip on the lifesaving sea glide started to slip. All while you kept giggling and laughing. 

“Warning: Oxygen levels critically low, seak oxygen immediatel….y”

The robotic sound of the PDA faded from your hearing as the last of your strength fell, the sea gluid slowing to a halt as it’s pilot slipped back to the darkness, the savory light of the surface faded with your vision.

No images of your life flashed by your eyes, only darkness, two rows of sharp black rocks slowly sealing you away into your final resting place, and a crystal clear line of words being seared into your oxygen-deprived mind….

“YOU CAN’T ESCAPE HERE. AND SURE AS ANYTHING, YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME.”


	2. New Strangers

“YOU CAN’T ESCAPE HERE. AND SURE AS ANYTHING, YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME.”

The beast’s words repeated in your fading mind as you sank deeper behind the fangs of the gargantuan beast, your body was growing colder by the second as you floated between the fine line of unconsciousness. Not even a single thought in your mind could accompany you as your world became fully dark. Your fate being sealed thanks to your hubris of exploration and false bravery.

This darkness did not last for long; as cold air soon returned to your lungs in one quick breath, the empty void around you was replaced by soft blankets and comfortable bedding. Your body springing right into a stiff sitting position, your damp, sweaty hands clasping the covers that covered your body from when you were laying down. Your blurry vision slowly adjusting to the dark bedroom of your underwater base, shaky and fast breaths came in and out of your lungs as your startled brain tried to process the nightmare scenario it had just conducted up for your last sleep.

Another nightmare, it was only just a nightmare. That’s what you told yourself over and over in your head as you attempted to slow your panicked breathing and watery eyes. It had to be that part of your self-conscious warning you about your hubris with wanting to adventure and find a way off this godforsaken ocean planet and how it could lead to an awful end. But could dreams make you feel like you were actually drowning? And what about that green beast? Those roars were nothing like any other leviathan you had come into contact with before, and the creature alone, it was human, or at least mostly. That had to be your mind falling into that loneliness and isolation you dreaded so much, making up dreams to try and remind you of your new fate. It was just tricks of the mind… Right?

Once your breathing was steadied, and your body could move without shaking like a dead leaf, you pushed yourself to the side of your comfortable bed. Remembering that you left your deep-sea suit on from an earlier exploration into the lava lakes before crashing into bed. 

Now that you think of it, what time was it? Looking over to your bedside shelf, you read the time, four o’clock in the morning, and looking out through your one window, it was still pitch dark outside, with the only parts being visible was the nearby rock formation that you stationed your base next to.

It looks like you weren’t going back to sleep after all. You would usually sleep through the night, so you did not have to worry about the numerous predators that roamed the safe shallows at night. However, thanks to that little nightmare of yours, sleeping was no longer an option. Looks like you were going to have to deal with the lack of sleep until you could fall asleep again. 

Maybe some food and coffee would make up for that said loss of sleep? Yeah, that sounded like a good plan. You remember having some leftover peepers that you caught on that same outing into the Lava lakes; hopefully, they did not go stale by now. 

Slowly trudging your way through your maze of a base, you gazed out through the several glass tunnels that you had set up throughout your makeshift home to look out over the lush terrain of the oceanic world that you found yourself in. Despite your gripes and hatred for this alien planet, it still held that save marvelous wonder and beauty that you could not quite, that no matter how scary or unnerving the planet gets, it was still a gorgeous place that you could not help but admire from time to time.put the finger on

However, tonight was not one of those nights, the void-like night reminding you of your previous night terror that plagued the back of your conscious mind—not allowing you to fully relax again until you made it to the observatory portion of the base.

Here is where one of your fabricators was, with your favorite coffee machine being paired next to it right before the glass tunnel leading into the observatory. You threw the still, somehow, fresh big-eyed fish onto the fabricator to be cooked as you pressed the desired buttons to make your cup of burnt bean juice. It did not take long for both to be finished, quickly biting into the freshly cooked fish as you took a seat on the middle table and chair of the glass orb that overlooked the vast night-covered land of the shallows.

The quiet of the outside world is only disturbed by this distant humming of the motoring functions of the base’s energy generator. You seldomly sipped and snacked on your breakfast as your mind started to slowly empty as you gazed out at the calm night ahead of you. Your thoughts were resurfacing only after a little while; this time, the dream that had previously haunted you was slowly becoming a distant memory as your rational thoughts took over. The nightmare was only a dream and nothing more, just your mind playing tricks on you as it always had when you entered this new world—nothing more, nothing less.

Closing your eyes and taking another deep breath, you let your mind calm before opening them again to be met with a pair of small, red, glowing dots in the distance. It was nothing, probably some bioluminescence from a passing fish, nothing more, nothing less. You turn back to your meal, putting the remainder of the Peeper in your mouth as you took out your PDA to skim through the several saved logs you had stockpiled from those logs you found back in the abandoned bases you explored. 

After skimming over a couple, you raise your head back up to take another gander at the deep ocean around you, this time, you note the same red dots were now somewhat closer, and this time, another pair of red orbs had accompanied it. Once again, your mind waving this off as just some passing fauna as you return to your reading, with the bonus of a sneaking feeling of being watched. Your mind once again making the excuse of just your anxiety trying to spark up also for no good reason. 

That anxiety getting its validation when your PDA flashed a warning up on the screen, with the same monotone voice repeating your worst fear by this point.

“Detecting two leviathan class lifeforms in the region.”

That same dread had forced you yet again to look back up after just a few seconds of processing the PDA’s warning, and low and behold, the orbs were closer yet again, far enough to still be hidden in the cloak of the night, but close enough to know that they are A LOT closer than the last time you looked up. That was enough to put you back on the edge, enough to make you hesitate going back to reading, trying once again to convince your panicked mind that this is all just exhaustion trying to play tricks on you now, trying to get you to panic again.

Your thoughts were soon interrupted by a sudden rhythmic tapping noise from outside the glass sphere, your body freezing up as your hand dropped your partially filled cup of bean juice.   
Your mind raced with panic and fear, fighting itself to either look up or stay frozen in place like a fish in headlights. You did not even think of reacting, as your own head slowly drifted up the source of the tapping, your now free hand sliding onto your side to pull out your flashlight to point it up at that said tapping.

What you saw, made your blood run cold through your veins. There, tapping with a single claw on the glass, like a child on an aquarium fish tank, was a giant, human-like creature, very similar to the one in your dreams, only more human-looking, with a more human face, more human skin tone, and a more muted blue oriented color scheme. Its darker brown hair being somewhat covered by patchwork like tophat with bioluminescent strands of a plant being tied together to make a ribbon around the base of that said hat. You could not quite make out what was below the creature’s waistline, being surprisingly much smaller than that said dream beast, but if it was anything like the green version of this one, it was not pretty.

Squid-like tendrils from the creature’s waistline also stuck onto the glass, latching on like a curious squid than a hungry predator, the tapping stopped once the being had your attention. This time tilting its head to the side, like a confused dog, before being punched in the arm by another beast. This one looked the exact same as the first beast beside it, only this one had more feminine features and much longer hair than their counterpart that seemed annoyed at them getting punched in the arm. Both glaring at each other and making facial expressions changing as they seemed to have a sort of internal argument about something. More than likely about you.

Learning from your dream, you paid no time being terrified by the presence of two new beasts, fearing you may meet a similar fate to your dream, and you booked it further into your base, leaving your PDA and your spilled drink unattended. You did not want to take your chances again with tempting fate.

Leaving the previously peaceful observatory section of your base and hiding in the main storage sections of your base, trying your best to avoid being seen through the glass tubes you are now regretting installing at almost every pathway in your makeshift safety place. You knew for a fact that you could not just up and leave the base, it was your only source of safety from the new beasts, and was pretty much suicide if you tried to escape like that.  
Taking a glance to the outside world from your hiding spot and towards one of the long glass tunnels, you could see one of the large beasts, the female one, glancing through the tunnel, mainly looking for you before swimming right over the pipe, causing your base to shake a little from the force of the big creature swimming right by. The light emanating from the tunnel gave a quick glimpse at the creatures’ tail, it was long, with red spinal and dorsal fins lining the spine and underbelly of the beast. Only being covered by six long squid like appendages covering the top half of the tail, from the waist to the middle of the tail. With the end of its tail solidifying its resemblance to those dreaded Reaper Leviathans. This definitely had to be related to the leviathan in your dreams in some way.

Your mind once again raced with fear, panic, and questions, all while being interrupted periodically by the sightings of the beasts circling of the base, and the sudden tremors of the beasts passing by. You did not dare to move from your hiding spot, staying vigilant as you waited for the monsters to leave. Sadly, they did not, you had stayed up all the way till the break of dawn, even when the sightings of the beasts had vanished, you refused to get up until the rays of the morning light and made its way into your base. From there, you got back up onto your tired feet and then collapsed back onto the cold metal floor beneath you. This was going to be a long day for sure. 

Were the monsters still gone? Did they just give up? Why did they even find you in the first place? Maybe it was the giant functioning base? Yeah, more than likely that.

Looking back over to your vitals, it looked like you were okay to go, but you do remember that you needed to go back to the Aurora, the very crashed space ship that brought you to this watery planet, and get some of the remaining parts that you needed for the rocket that you were going to build to get home. Problem was, is that damn Reaper leviathan that was basically guarding the ship crash by this point. You managed to sneak by it the first time, but now that you had to go back again, you were not ready to see that guy’s ugly face again. And now with those other Reaper, Seadragon, hybrid things roaming around, you definitely were unsure what might happen. Though, that still never bothered you from trying, even if it was going to bite you in the ass sooner or later.

So after suiting back up in your radiation suit, your best air capacity tank, and loading up into the still intact Seamoth, you took off for the distant space ship crash in search of those lost rocket files. All the while you could not help but feel like you were being watched, just like the night before with those damn creatures. Were they still following you? Did they just leave you alone last night? Can’t they just go find some other abandoned base to explore that isn’t yours?

Taking a few glances behind you every now and again to see if you could spot the creatures tiling you, but no such luck. Maybe you should just stick to watching the path ahead as you approached the Reaper’s territory. 

You hoped that the Reaper would be on the opposite side of the Aurora so you could sneak in again, but the dreadful echolocating roar of the beast told otherwise. Remembering what the data bank said about that beast’s roar, you knew that the moment you heard the call, it would already know where you are. This would have made you panic and make you turn tail and run away, back to the safety of your base, you were more prepared this time around. You finally made a Stasis Rifle! That life-saving tool could freeze a Leviathan on the spot, giving you enough time to flee onto the ship before it could even get close to you. It’s saved your sorry ass from way too many bone sharks before, so it can save you from a giant Reaper leviathan, right?

Reaching back for your trusty stasis rifle, you felt nothing, checking your inventory, it wasn’t there. Dread slowly crept into your head as you frantically searched around the inside of the Seamoth for that lost life-saving gun, and sadly, no such gun existed. Why did you forget it this time? Of all fucking times to forget the most important tool in your arsenal, it’s when you’re about to go face to face with the damn Reaper. Your internal monologue was interrupted by a sudden jolt of force, jotting you around in your seat as the warning alarms blared in your ears. Glancing back up and out of the ship, you saw the reason for the impact, the face of death itself, the Reaper, and its face appendages have taken a hold on your ship and were about to tear it into two.

Images of your nightmare flashed in your mind as you were forced to watch the ungodly sight in front of you, the eyes of the reaper being replaced in flashes with the glowing white eyes of the green beast, and how it tore your cyclops to bits just like this Reaper was. Unlike your dream tho, you managed to snap out of your traumatic state and act quickly once again. Forgetting your long-lost stasis rifle and hoping for your Sea Glide once more, escaping through the top hatch of your soon-to-be-destroyed Seamoth and taking to the sea with a new goal in mind, escape.

It would not take long for the alien to tear through the old small submarine-like wet tissue paper, and seeing how its target was now missing, it roared again, turning back to its escaping target, you.

The deafening roar did not bother you, liquid panic pumping through your veins as you booked it back towards your far off base, not noticing the quickly gaining beast that was until a tall shadow covered your frail form, and four long, sharp appendages reached out in front of you, ready to push you back into the waiting maw of the beast.

Only for the beast’s shadow to be intercepted with a sudden longer, and thinner one being shot right into its eye, causing it to roar, and for you to finally turn your head to the wailing overgrown fish. Justin time for you to see what looks like a scrap metal stick protruding from the leviathan’s right eyes, and another fast-moving scrap pole to shoot into its lower eye. 

There was not a second to question what was happening in front of you as a streak of deep blue and red tackled the beast, pale blue tendrils wrapped around the fish’s long squirming tail and the blue tail of the other creature. Long brown hair blocked you from seeing the carnage as one of the scrap metal poles was brought up above the more human-looking entity’s head and brought down on the screaming monster’s head countless times until the body had gone still, or at least only started twitching.

The gruesome and confusing sight in front of you was almost impossible to tear your eyes off from, but you managed to tear them away anyways. Pushing the sea glide into full throttle, right into the torso of the other giant human creature that was just waiting there, probably waiting for you to turn around so it could snag you. That it did, long, strong, tendrils wrapping around your smaller body and limbs as your instinct kicked in. Twisting and turning your body in any way to try and free yourself from the lightly constricting tentacles. You didn’t dare look at the beasts, knowing in your mind it was probably enjoying its prey squirm like this, trying to get free of its clutches, or it was trying to hold you there until its pal got done skewering the leviathan so they both could kill you.

That was your thought process before a very muffled voice came from above you.

“Hey! Fuckin- stop it! You’re fine! Just stop squirming! Please!”

Did that creature just talk? Your body freezing as you slowly glanced up at the male human hybrid’s face, which had a more concerned look on their face and the more malicious one you envisioned earlier.

“Okay good, you can understand me like this. Guess you’re not some brainless alien after all. Anyways, are you okay?” Is what you could process by the bubbled words coming from the creature’s mouth, and how well you were able to read lips.

Besides the unintentional insult, you nodded your head, knowing the diving mask would make it hard for you to communicate to the strange being that had you wrapped up in its weird squid-like appendages.

“Okay good. I have no fuckin clue why you thought it was a good idea to go into Reaper territory like that, even when that thing gave out a locating call.”

Well, you would have made it past the damn thing if you had your Stasis Rifle with you in the first place. Ready to try and communicate back to the insulting leviathan, you were interrupted as the said leviathan looked up at the approaching female leviathan. No words being exchanged as she made a gesture with the now yellow blood-covered spear to you, and then off to your base. As if reminding the other that it would probably be best if they brought you back to your base after this terrifying encounter, or reminding him that humans need air to breathe.

To that, he just nodded, looking back down at you as he mother “We’re gonna take you back to your nest, Nina has some things she wants to ask you, along with me.” Before swimming after the female counterpart with you simply dragging back along in the other’s tendrils still, just along for the ride. And just before that, the fish turned back to you. “Oh yeah, I’m Thaf by the way, sorry that I didn’t tell you that before.”

First starting with a nightmare about a ginormous, green, boney beast killing you, to now more human versions of that beast saving you from a Reaper leviathan, to now them taking you back to your base like a lost baby animal. This was sure a strange ass day.


	3. The First Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING
> 
> HEAVY SPOILERS FOR SUBNAUTICA
> 
> READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

After being tangled in the creature’s tangling tentacles for what felt like an eternity, which was only just about 10 seconds. You could see the silhouette of your beloved underwater base coming into view as the other hybrid ducked under the entrance of the Moonpool part of your base that used to home your more miniature submarine before the now deceased Reaper destroyed it. Soon Thaf dragged you into the empty haul of the pool with that same tendril, pulling you out of the shallow water and onto the dry yet cold, metal floor of the base. You let yourself lay on the metal ground for just a second, collecting your thoughts for a second before pushing yourself up into a sitting position to look at the two waiting leviathans. 

Both of whom were leaning against the closest edge of the pool that was towards you, the lower, more fishy part of their body was resting against the earthy aspect of the ocean world, with the tendrils of the two found different parts of the base to wrap around for added support. With some around the outside support of the moonpool structure, to the rest coming up to cling onto the edges of the pool. The sound of the shifting and creaking structure as the two Leviathans made themselves at home within and around your base did not sit well with you until the sounds stopped entirely.

This first official interaction would be an awkward moment of silence between the three of you as you lot just stared at each other as you had just seen an alien if it was not for the long-haired leviathan who spoke up first.

“So, human, or at least that’s what I think you are from what I’ve seen. Why did you think it was a good idea to go into Reaper territory without ANY protection?”

Instead of feeling fear as you had in the past couple of days with this planet’s unusual inhabitants that would have kept your mouth shut, annoyance quickly took over, and you had finally found your voice again after all this time.

“Well, I did assume I had my Stasif Rifle with me, the tool that would basically let me pass no problem-”

“And you didn’t have it with you?” That chimed in.

“...Yeah.” You replied, defeat and slight embarrassment hinted in your voice; even these aliens knew you fucked up.

“Besides that tool of yours,” Nina continued, brushing off your defeated comment and continuing with this strange interview. “What exactly were you looking for going back to your old metal wreck?”

“It’s the Aroura, and there’s some resources that I needed to get to get myself back to my homeworld.”

“What resources were you looking for exactly?”

“Rocket blueprints. Blueprints that I can use to launch myself off this water hell.”

There was a look of what could be seen as a mixture of confusion and disappointment on both hybrid’s faces as they took a glance at each other before turning back to the now cross-legged sitting human.

“And you know that this planet is under quarantine, right? By the weird bacteria that’s been spreading like crazy. Nothing can get in or out of this planet without being killed or shot down by the Quarantine Enforcer.” Nina first responded.

“Like your huge ship did,” Thaf added.

“Yeah, I’ve seen. But, I did manage to find the cure!”

The confusion between the two only grew, both of them faces contouring into even further confusion.

“You- What? How- no, no, you can’t have; all the Precursors had died with the cure once-”

“The attack happened, a leviathan attacked the base where the cure was being worked on with the bacteria and, everything spiraled downhill from there. The cure could not be made, and the last of the Precursorsed died.”

“But I DID find the cure! From what I gathered from those old bases those, whatchamacallits-”

“Precursors,” Thaf interrupted

“Yeah those guys, had used for research on that said cure. It turns out it was from the last remaining Sea Emporer Leviathan that just so happened to have the cure in this enzyme made by her hatchlings.”

A bit of stunned silence arose from the group, the leviathans not knowing what else to say besides nothing, just surprised by the sudden news of a long-living bacteria that had corrupted their world for so long had now found a premature cure.

“And where exactly are these hatchlings you’re yammering about?” Nina asked, breaking the awkward silence.

“I… honestly don’t know. Right after I cured myself of the bacteria, the younglings just up and left for the open world.”

“This couldn’t have been recent, right? I didn’t recall seeing any of those “emporers” around anywhere.”

“It was just a day ago; I doubt the young wouldn’t have gone far.”

“Uh-huh.” The confusion from the female leviathan’s soon dissolved into heavy skepticism, one of her hands dipping down into the water below them.

“And if you really HAD found the cure, why wasn’t the Quarantine Enforcer shut off then? And why haven’t the rest of the infected life forms have been cured yet?”

“It was! I shut it off right after I got the cure since only non-infected can turn it off. And I doubt that the enzyme would have spread over the entire Crater in just a few days. And the babies would not have gotten that far as I said.”

The bright red eyes of the long-haired Leviathan narrowed as she gripped onto something under the water, causing Thaf to look down at what she was grabbing. Then back to the human, that same skepticism on his face now interlaced with a tinge of worry for the human’s well-being.

“So I’m just supposed to believe some random human had just miraculously found the cure to this ailing bacteria that’s been harming this planet for a millennium from some long-gone leviathan?”

“Well-”

The leviathan had finally brought up what she had been holding one of those long metal poles, this one with what looked to be a carved titanium spear attached to the tip, pointing directly at your neck.

“Thaf and I have killed countless humans like you who had tried to invade this planet and spread this bacteria further. And unless you have that cure right here, right now, you’re just going to what you were supposed to be with that Reaper back at the ship, dead.” Nina growled, pushing herself out of the loon pool, her tail sliding onto the cold metal floor as the spear pressed further onto your neck. Causing you to scoot back on your rear and right into the wall behind you, this caused you to be pinned against a wall and the sharp end of the weapon of whatever beast Nina was.

So much for that regular interaction being somewhat normal, now you were being threatened by the same creatures that had just saved your life not too long ago from a Reaper. Maybe if you could get that beaker of the cure enzyme from your special locker and give it to her, then perhaps she would believe you. The problem is that she wanted the evidence of a very outwardly claim here and now, and failure to provide that said evidence would more than likely end in your own death.

“I-I have the enzyme in a locker. If you l-let me go, I can get it.”

The answer to your plea was met with the tip of the sharp spear being slowly pressed into your neck, the end of the weapon now feeling a bit more painful as more force was applied to your flesh.

“I-I swear It’s back there! P-Please be-believe me!”

Your whimpers were only met with the ice-cold glare of the leviathan on the other end of the danger stick as she slowly plunged the spear deeper into your throat. You could swear you felt the most miniature bead of crimson liquid drip from the very spot the spear was drilling into. You wanted to plead your case even more, but the fear of simply speaking would cause the tight harpoon to fully tear into your neck and cut what life you had short. With the added effect of the stone-cold glare from the now enraged beast that was now aiming to end your speed run on this god-forsaken planet now.

By some miracle, instead of the sharp point of death greeting you, the sound of the other Leviathan’s words broke through the tense silence.

“Nina, please give them a chance; even if they aren’t telling the truth, we can just break down their base and get them that way.”

Nina turned her head towards the other water-borne creature, his hand on her tail to try and add more weight to his words. However, this gesture did seem to work; however, the weaponized leviathan glanced back to Thaf as he spoke before returning her gaze to you. Her red eyes somewhat less piercing than before, letting the pinning spear ease itself off your neck, allowing you to slump down against the wall in needed relief.

“...Fine. But you have at least sixty seconds to return here with that antidote you claim you have before we tear your nest apart to look for it for you. Understand?”

You repeatedly nodded before scrambling to your feet, slipping slightly on the puddle that was left by the surfaced Nina leviathan before you darted deeper into your base.

Keeping an internal timer in your head, the seconds started trickling down like sand in an hourglass as you began to tear up your base apart, looking for that life-saving antidote. You had wished you had labeled your lockers with some sort of labeling system, maybe by what items were in these lockers, or just some goofy names, like Jed, Samy, or Josh. Anything that would have made finding the last vault you looked in to find that cure in a lot more accessible.

Throughout your frantic panic of trying to find the item, you had managed to think back to what the Leviathans had said. Did they already know the lore of this place? What happened to the aliens that were here before, and what they had done to try and find an end to this disease. And what did Nina mean by the countless humans they had killed before? Were there more ships that have crashed here before the Arora? And could those two have been responsible for most of the crews’ deaths from the other life pods that came from the Arora? You quickly shook those questions out of your mind as you returned to your current task, bringing the cure to the two leviathans.

With the cure in hand, you quickly made your way to the moonpool, where the leviathans were waiting for you to return barely within those sixty seconds. Instead of seeing Nina waiting where she had previously sat upon, she was back in the water next to Thaf, who seemed to be looking upset or mournful about something, looking down at the cold metal floor while Nina had a clawed hand on his shoulder.

That dread you had felt in your gut from when Nina put that deadly time limit on you had slowly subsided, now in its place, was a sort of worrying guilt. Did the female leviathan say something about them killing trespassers that came onto the planet? Maybe they both did not want to kill them and were acting purely out of a taught instinct? And now they regret threatening you as they did? This planet truly has changed with this cursed bacteria; hopefully, this antidote would help calm their fears.

“I-I have the cure right here! I could only find one, but it should be able to be used multiple times.”

At your words, the two Leviathans’ attention was caught; they both directed their gaze towards you and your bottle of wonder elixir.

Nina, however, was not entirely convinced but still held back that same cold stare that she had given you earlier. 

“Is that really?”

“Yes, it is. If you hold out your hands, I can give some to you for you to see. Or use if you have the bacteria.”

The female leviathan paused for a moment, looking down at one of her claws, bending them enough for you to see some specs of green poking out from the joints of her plated hands, definitely being infected with the bacteria. After that hesitation, Nina held out one of her hands to you, which you dumped a sizable glob onto before she pulled the chunk away quickly to look at it.

At first, nothing interesting happened; the opaque, shiny orange substance simply sat in her still hand. Her face supported a more curious expression on her face before it quickly changed to a more panicked expression as she tried to scrape the enzyme off her hands. Only for that substance to spread onto her other hand, leaving Nina just to watch as the cure seeped into her scales.

Thaf looked terrified, seeing his pal getting infected by another infectious substance, almost ready to jump after her to help before you spoke up again.

“Hey! Don’t worry, that’s supposed to happen; it only stings for a little bit, but the enzyme will wash your system out of the bacteria in no time.”

“You could have told me that ahead of time!” Nina retorted as the rest of the substance was absorbed into her hands. Looking back down at her claws, her eyes widened when she saw that the infection that had been growing in her exposed flesh was slowly disappearing. The green glow of the bacteria fading out of view as she flexed her claws to try and make any remains of the sickness appear, which it did not.

The other leviathan also glanced over at the newly cured claws, astounded that the antidote the human said they had indeed worked.

“Huh, guess that was the actual cure.”

“...Does that mean I get to live now?”

There was a moment of deafening silence before Nina sighed.

“Yes, you can live. But only if you give some of that cure to my pal Thaf.”

And that you did, giving the other leviathan another portion of the elixir, you pocketed the other remaining enzyme you had as you watched the leviathan go through the same reaction. His friend did first wonder, then panic, with the final of confused relief.

There was once again silence ad the Leviathans processed their now uninfected bodies, making double sure the enzyme had fully worked on them as you promised as you could only sit and observe them once more.

“Thanks for, you know, curing us with the cure.” Thaf thanked as he leaned to the edge of the moon pool again, the leviathan’s weight causing the pool to creak in their weight.

“And sorry for nearly killing you earlier,” Nina responded as well, leaning again on the edge with the holding dock creaking more. “Kinda wish there was some way we could pay you back for all of this.”

You were about to say there wasn’t anything that they could do to make up for it, that you were simply keeping a promise to someone. But that selfless thought was immediately interrupted by your selfish thoughts, with what you wanted first and foremost from what you previously wanted to do at the crash site of the Arora. From there, a plan arose.

“Actually, I do need your two’s help on something I need to do.”


End file.
